From left, Mets' Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, David Wright and Wilmer Flores looked on during a pitching change in the eighth inning.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

For whatever reason, the Mets have looked pretty dead at the plate since the start of extra innings in Game 1. That game was only going to end when the Royals found a way to score, which they finally did in the bottom of the 14th.

In Game 2, the Mets had two hits, and that’s it. They barely hit a ball hard the whole game.

All this could change when the Mets get to play in front of their fans in Game 3 on Friday night, at Citi Field. But sometimes teams go into an offensive funk in a postseason series — like the Yankees in the 2012 A.L.C.S., when they were swept by the Tigers — and never come out of it.
We’ll see.

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Mr. Met has his work cut out for him.Credit @BobEckstein

11:11 pm ETOct 28, 20152015-10-29T03:26:14+00:00

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Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto celebrated their 7-1 victory over the Mets.Credit Christopher Smith for The New York Times

He was electric tonight. That was the type of outing we needed.

ERIC HOSMER, the Royals first baseman, on the complete game thrown by Johnny Cueto.

Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto tagged out Mets' Curtis Granderson early in the game.Credit Christopher Smith for The New York Times

Johnny Cueto came out for the ninth inning looking to be the first American League pitcher to throw a complete game in the World Series since Jack Morris did it in Game 7 in 1991. He had thrown 107 pitches, but with a large lead, and the Mets not having had any hard contact against him tonight, Ned Yost was comfortable letting his starter try to finish what he had started.

Cueto proved worthy of the faith, getting groundouts from Curtis Granderson and David Wright before walking Daniel Murphy to bring up Yoenis Cespedes. Cueto got Cespedes to fly out to end the game.

Cueto ended up throwing 122 pitches, and he allowed just two hits, thoroughly outdueling Jacob deGrom to give the Royals a 2-0 lead in the series.

Mets' Juan Lagares couldn't handle a hit for a triple by Royals' Alcides Escobar in the eighth inning.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

It was another big inning for the Royals thanks to their relentless attack.

Officially, Mike Moustakas started things off with a single, but it seemed like Lucas Duda should have been able to make a play on the grounder that got past him into the outfield.

The Royals, as they seem to do with any opportunity, took advantage when Salvador Perez sent Moutakas to third with a double to left that may have scored a run if not for the powerful arm of Yoenis Cespedes making teams think twice before testing it.

That brought up Alex Gordon, whose homer brought Kansas City back to life last night, and the Royals’ outfielder doubled off the glove of Wilmer Flores to bring Moustakas home, giving the Royals runners at second and third with no outs and a run already in.

That was enough for Terry Collins, who pulled the plug on Jon Niese’s night, replacing him with Addison Reed. Paulo Orlando drove Reed’s first pitch to the left-field wall for an out, but even Yoenis Cespedes could not throw out Perez from that distance and the Royals had their sixth run of the night.

Alcides Escobar continued the onslaught, driving in Gordon with a two-out triple to make it 7-1.

And with that, Reed was pulled in favor of Sean Gilmartin. Reed only recorded one out, but his appearance tacked two earned runs onto Jon Niese’s line for the night. Gilmartin settled things down and got two quick outs, but the Mets are now down six runs and have to go up against either Cueto, who they have not been able to touch, or Wade Davis, the game’s best reliever. They have three outs remaining.

Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto delivered to the Mets in the eighth inning.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

This was the game the Royals were expecting when they traded for Johnny Cueto.

The team acquired the star pitcher in July and he was not particularly good down the stretch, or early in the postseason, but tonight he was phenomenal, allowing one run in eight innings, allowing just two singles.

His day is likely done after throwing 107 pitches, but putting his team in position to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series makes the trade for him, which cost Kansas City three prospects, seem like a bargain.

Johnny Cueto is well aware of the strong Kansas City bullpen being there to protect him, but he absolutely cruised through the seventh by striking out Yoenis Cespedes, and getting Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud to fly out to end the inning.

Cueto looked as if he might be in trouble in the fourth inning, but for the night he has held the Mets to two singles, both by Lucas Duda. The rest of the team is 0 for 19.

As Joe Buck pointed out during the inning, the Royals have yet to even warm up a reliever.

Jacob deGrom’s day ended after the disastrous fifth inning. He was replaced by Hansel Robles, who had a 3.67 E.R.A. in 57 appearances this season but had appeared just once in the postseason prior to tonight.

Robles looked good, getting Alex Gordon to fly out to center before Yoenis Cespedes showed off his ability as a corner outfielder by making a leaping grab of an Alex Rios flyout at the wall. Robles then got Alcides Escobar to ground out to end the inning.

The fact that deGrom struggled should not have been all that surprising with the way he pitched in his last two postseason starts. In each game he ran into trouble multiple times only to escape it by getting batters to swing and miss or ground into inning-ending double-plays. The Royals did not afford him that luxury, and their ability to put the ball in play repeatedly was the difference.

Mets' Daniel Murphy reacted after taking an inside pitch.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

Defensive alignment continued to be important for Kansas City. They had the shift on for Curtis Granderson and he grounded the ball right to Ben Zobrist for the first out of the inning. David Wright flied out on the first pitch he saw and Daniel Murphy struck out looking to end the inning.

Murphy once again seemed frustrated with the strike zone, but somehow has not adjusted, making him seem more like “Regular Season Daniel Murphy” than the new-and-improved “Postseason Daniel Murphy”.

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom reacted during the fifth inning.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

Eric Hosmer gave the Royals a lead with two outs, but the Royals were far from done. Kendrys Morales followed him by singling to right and Hosmer aggressively went to third base on the play, unafraid of Curtis Granderson’s throwing arm.

Mike Moustakas then drove in Hosmer with a single to right before Salvador Perez, the ninth Royal of the inning to bat, grounded out to David Wright to end the inning.

The Royals ended up scoring 4 runs in the inning, and perhaps more importantly they forced Jacob deGrom to throw 35 pitches, bringing his total for the day to 94. Terry Collins may send him out for one more inning, but even that would be generous with how well the Royals were seeing the ball off of him.

Royals' Alex Rios (15) and Alcides Escobar celebrated with Kendrys Morales after scoring runs in the fifth inning.Credit Christopher Smith for The New York Times

After the R.B.I. single by Alcides Escobar, Ben Zobrist grounded out to first, but in doing so he managed to advance the baserunners to second and third for Lorenzo Cain with just one out. Cain got the ball into the outfield, but a solid throw by Juan Lagares forced Alex Rios to stay at third.

That brought up last night’s hero, Eric Hosmer, and the Royals’ first baseman delivered once again with a single up the middle that scored two runs, giving Kansas City a 3-1 lead.

Hosmer’s ability to take advantage of runners on base is becoming a thing of legend in Kansas City.

Royals' Alex Gordon slid in to score on an RBI single by Alcides Escobar in the fifth inning.

Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

Jacob deGrom walked Alex Gordon before Alex Rios singled to left. It has been the topic of a great deal of discussion, but the Royals’ ability to wreak havoc at every spot in the batting order really does make things difficult.

Alcides Escobar tried to bunt twice but after he failed to put the ball in play he instead swung away and singled to center, scoring Gordon to make it a tie game.

With each inning it becomes more clear that Baseball-Reference needs to add a category for hat size. Jonny Cueto, whose hat is forced to try to contain his prodigious hair, has to wear among the largest caps in the game.

Johnny Cueto had a rough time in the fourth inning, but the veteran settled down and had an easy fifth, which is good news for a Kansas City bullpen that did a lot of work last night. Cueto has only thrown 70 pitches, so he could theoretically pitch deep into the game provided his troubles of the fourth do not resurface.

Jacob deGrom has now made four starts in the postseason, and all of them have been on the road. And if the World Series goes to six games, and deGrom makes another start against the Royals, that game will be on the road, too.

In other words, the best pitcher on the Mets is unlikely to make a single appearance on the mound at Citi Field as the Mets try to win their first championship since 1986. Instead, he has drawn the toughest assignment of the Mets’ four starting pitchers — keep winning games in front of the other team’s fans.

In the division series, deGrom had to duel the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 and Zach Greinke in Game 5, each time at Dodger Stadium. The Mets won each game.

In the National League Championship Series, deGrom had to hold off the Cubs in Game 3, at Wrigley Field, with the crowd trying to will the Cubs back into the series.

They couldn’t. deGrom wasn’t great in that game, but tough enough. He is, without doubt, the Mets’ ace regardless of how often that title is still put next to Matt Harvey’s name.

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom during the fourth inning.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

Jacob deGrom did not get any help from his defense.

Lucas Duda put the Mets on the board in the top half of the inning, but in the bottom half he may have tried a bit too hard on a defensive play. He ranged far to his right on a grounder by Ben Zobrist before ultimately not being able to handle it, letting Zobrist reach first on the error. On the play, Daniel Murphy was positioned behind Duda and likely could have fielded the ball easily.

Then with one out, Eric Hosmer hit a soft fly to center that Juan Lagares could not quite get to. Luckily for the Mets, Zobrist was not running hard off the bat and had to stop at second base. Had Zobrist been more aggressive he easily could have reached third on the play.

DeGrom got Kendrys Morales to ground out but then walked Mike Moustakas to load the bases. DeGrom then ended the inning by getting Salvardor Perez to ground out to shortstop.

No runs were scored, but there was far more drama than there should have been based on the lack of solid contact Kansas City was making off deGrom.

Mets' Lucas Duda hit an RBI single to score Daniel Murphy in the fourth inning.Credit Christopher Smith for The New York Times

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Mets' Daniel Murphy celebrated after scoring on Duda's RBI single.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy both walked on either end of David Wright fouling out to first, and that brought Yoenis Cespedes to the plate with two runners on. The slumbering slugger nearly grounded into an inning-ending double-play, but after Mike Moustakas tagged third, his throw pulled Eric Hosmer off first and Cespedes was called safe.

The failure to complete the double-play cost the Royals dearly as it set up Lucas Duda with two men on and the first baseman stroked a two-out single to right that scored Murphy, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Travis d’Arnaud flied out to end the inning, but the Mets are on the board.

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom delivered to the Royals.Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times

Alex Gordon was Kansas City’s eighth batter of the game and he was the first to reach base, drawing a one-out walk from Jacob deGrom.

The baserunner did not seem to bother deGrom, who struck out Alex Rios looking before getting Alcides Escobar to ground out to end the inning.

This game was expected to be the best pitching matchup of the series and it is delivering so far. Through three innings, Cueto and deGrom have combined to face one batter over the minimum. Cueto has only thrown 34 pitches and deGrom has thrown 38.

Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto celebrated a strike out early in their game against the Mets.Credit Christopher Smith for The New York Times

The version of Johnny Cueto that dominated the National League from 2011 to mid-2015 appears to have shown up tonight. He cruised through the third inning with the Mets, allowing no hard contact at all. His variety of deliveries has them somewhat baffled and he is making things look easy.

It is hard to reconcile the man on the mound today with the one who looked so inept against the Toronto Blue Jays in the A.L.C.S.